Up-and-coming band The Murder Capital heading to Cambridge

The Irish quintet ended 2018 as an act tipped for the top, without actually having released a single song. They will be playing The Portland Arms on Monday (July 15).

Based on word-of-mouth from those who attended their live performances, and a live recording of More Is Less, which went viral on YouTube, the band have built a formidable reputation.

In just over a year, they’ve sold out shows in their home town of Dublin and played with Slaves, Shame, IDLES and fellow countrymen, Fontaines DC.

They have also been praised by the likes of The Guardian, NME and Loud & Quiet, while the Irish Times called them “Ireland’s best new rock band”.

Their debut album, When I Have Fears – produced by Flood (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, New Order) – features both of the group’s two singles to date, Feeling Fades and Green & Blue, as well as the first studio recording of More Is Less.

The LP will be released on August 16. Before then, there is the gig at The Portland Arms on Monday to contend with.

The Murder Capital comprises James McGovern (vocals), Damien Tuit (guitars), Cathal Roper (guitars), Gabriel Paschal Blake (bass) and Diarmuid Brennan (drums).

Speaking to the Cambridge Independent from a van on the way to Oxford, where the band had a show later that day, Gabriel says of the forthcoming release: “The album is about trying to understand human emotion and what it is to be a human.

“Just the title, When I Have Fears, sort of encapsulates those moments of loneliness and those moments of vulnerability.

There’s parts of the album where we deal with loneliness, we deal with vulnerability, but there’s also parts where it can be an attempt at strength and elation, or a celebration of life as well as grief.

"We were just trying to figure out how to communicate with each other and how to communicate with ourselves as people as well.”

Gabriel continues: “We always rehearse together and we’re pretty much with each other every day, so we all put in the same amount of work – the majority of the songs we always finish together.

"There are a lot of times where one of us may have a really strong opinion on a part or the way that a song should go, or what it’s going to do, and it can take a battle before the decision’s made.

"Usually it ends up being the right choice.”

The band have had a huge rise since they formed.

“We had all been quite active in the music scene in Dublin. Damien and Cathal and James had been playing together for about six months in 2017, and then by summer last year, myself and Diarmuid started playing with the boys as well,” Gabriel says.

“We wanted to make art that really mattered to what was happening in Ireland and reflected who we are as people, so just through a collective love of art and a want to make statements in our music.

“Things have happened quite quickly for us, which is a blessing. Even the fact that we can go to different places and people are there...

"I mean, we went to Paris on our last tour and there was 150 people there, people who were really connected to the music. It was quite an experience – it stunned us.

“Knowing that the music brought us there was a brilliant feeling, but then to play the show the next day...”

The Murder Capital, who have never played in Cambridge before, plan to tour extensively following the release of the album.

The Murder Capital will be appearing at The Portland Arms on Monday, July 15, from 7pm-11pm.

Tickets: £9.90. Box office: theportlandarms.co.uk.